Refrigerator latch



Jan. 26, 1937.

C. GESKE ET AL REFRIGERATOR LATCH Filed July 15, 1935 I val/gi l nll Patented Jan. 26, 1937 1 UNITED "STATES,

2,069,088- PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR m'rcn Carl Geske aml George Earl De Voe, Grand Rapids, Mich.,

assignors to Winters &

Crampton Corporation, Grandville, Mich a corporation of Michigan Application my 13, 1935, Serial No. 31,146

5 Claims.

This inventionrelates to latches which, while not necessarily restricted as to place of use, are particularlyuseful when applied to refrigerators. It is an object and purpose of the present invention to provide a simple and practical latch which is substantially concealed and protected within the confines of a handle member thus making. a compact and neat appearing structure. a

An understanding of the invention and one form of structure which embodies the same may be had from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in-

which,

i Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through the latch, and through the adjacent portions of the door and door frame on which the latch and its keeper are respectively mounted.-

Fig. 2 is a section substantially cm the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section substantially on the plane of the broken line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig.4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the position of the parts on manual operation of the latch when the door is opened, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detail of the latch structure, comprising the main supporting element thereof and which is to be secured at the free vertical edge of the door.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawing.

The refrigerator door I is adapted to close a door opening which is surrounded by a door frame or casing 2. The door at its free edges has a narrowed ledge 3 which extends a short distance over the adjacent faces of the door frame extending at right angles thereto to one side,

the same terminating at their outer ends in hooks I. The plate referred to is completed by an intermediate fiat member 8, which extends beyond the outer edges of the ears 5, and which is bent laterally to form an upper lip 9 at its upper end and a short flange ID at its lower edge. This supporting member is attached directly at the edge of the door ledge 3 by means of screws II which pass through the ears 5 and thread into the door as shown.

A pivotally mounted latch bolt l2 of irregular shape is located between the supporting arms 6.

At is inner end it is formed with a latching head I3 spaced from which is a strike lug l4, there being a slot I5 between the parts l3 and I4 into which the engaging portion of a strike plate sleeve I8 of metal surrounds the pivot pin, which at its ends passes through the sides l9 of a sheet metal operating handle 2Q. The ends of the pivot pin are headed or riveted over as shown in Fig. 2, thus assembling the handle inseparably with the latch mechanism described. The handleis substantially a sheet metal shell which houses the major portion of the mechanism described and which at one end is formed with a pressed out ledge 2| adapted to come against the outer side of the lug M on the latch dog, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, whereby by pulling outwardly on the free end of the handle the latch bolt is turned in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 4.

The latch bolt is acted upon by a spring 22 which is mounted between the widened heads of two bars 23 passing through the spring and slidable over each other. One of the bars is seated against the hook I and the other in a recess in the outer end of the bolt l2. The spring, in the movements of the bolt from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 4, has its line of force carried across the pivotal axis of the pivot pin l1, and, therefore, operates to hold the latch bolt in either position to which itis moved. The extreme positions of movement of the latch bolt are governed by the engagement of the stop lug l6 against the part 8, as previously described, and by the edge of the bolt coming against the lip ID, as shown in Fig. 4.

The door frame member 2 is-recessed at 24 and a housing member 25 of thin metal is mounted in the recess. The housing member is open at its outer side and is covered by a strike plate 26 which is secured in place by screws 21 (Fig. 2). The strike plate has an opening through which the headed end l3 of the latch bolt may pass; and it is formed at one side of the opening with a strike portion 28 which, in the closed position of the latch in Fig. 1, is received in the recess I5 of the latch bolt and bears against the side of the head l3 adjacent said recess. For sake of appearance the strike plate 28 is equipped with a covering plate 29 of thin metal.

When the door is closed, as in Fig. 1, the

head of the latch bolt l3 engages with the portion 28 of the strike plate and is yieldingly held in suchepositidn byg the-forgeofespring 21;; thereby serving to compress the sealing mem her 4 sufliciently to provide an air-tight seal between the door and the door frame. To. open. the door the handle 20 is manually. operated, from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 4. The ledge 2| omthehandla-engag ing against the lug It, turns the-latchbolt until the line of force of the spring "22 crosses th'e pivotal axis of the pin l1, whereupon the spring continues the rotative movement of the dipguntil said bolt is stopped by engaging against the I lip It). In such position the head of the bolt is e -to. as utwa ,th e s the m me in the strike plate-26..

,On closingth 1 I the position shown in Fig...4, lug comes against the strike part Ztcausing the bolt to beturned in a-clockwise directionuntil the line of force of spring 22 passes back across the axis of pivot .ll whereuponv the spring turns the bolt into inFig. 4. This is designed to be operated by a foot pedal mounted adjacent the lowerpart of the refrigerator, but as the mechanism for thus operating it is no part of the present in-.

ventiongit is not specifically illustrated and described.

It will be noted that the head I 3 has a rounded cam-like edge so that should the latch bolt, when the door is opened, be accidentally or otherwise .r'noved, from the position in Fig. 4 to that in Fig. 1, such cam edge of the door will ride against the inner edge of the strike portion 28, whereby the door may be readily closed under such conditions.

. The invention is of a very practical and meritorious character and has so proven in practice. It is economical to produce, the assembly of the parts is easy and the application of the same to a refrigerator door is convenient and easy, and when secured in place the appearance is pleasing and attractive.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

.We claim:

1. A latchcomprising, a support including a base plate and with spaced arms extending therefrom, a latch bolt pivotally mounted between the arms, said bolt having a stop thereon adapted to engage against the base plate in one extreme position of pivotal movement, a hollow handle pivotally mounted upon the same pivot as the latch bolt and housing a portion thereof, said handle being adapted to engage the latch bolt to turn it in one direction, and springmeans housed within the handle and acting on aoeaoas,

r, theitter bolt, being m the latch bolt for yieldingly holding the latch bolt in either of its ncr m nt: r

a base plate, spaced apart arms extending at right angles from said plate, said arms having extensions thereon to one side of the adjacent edge ofthe' plate hooks on said extensions, a latch bolt pivotallymounted between said arms and adapted to "engage against said base plate between saidifarms' at extremes of its pivotal "-'*movement, saidlatch bolt having a keeper receiving recessin 'one edge thereof, a unitary sheet metal hollow handle extending over said arms and the extensions thereof and partly over--v said latch, bolt and en aging against the said handle being pivoted to turn aboutthe same pivotal axis as the latch bolt, and compressible springmeans between the .latch bolt and the hooks yieldingly holding said bolt in either of the extreme positions to 'which it is turned, said hollow handle .housing the com: pressible spring means and hooks at all times.

3. In a latch structure, a pivotally rnounted latch bolt, 9. support therefor, a ledge on said support, a hollow handlepivotally mounted on the same pivot, said handle having spacedapart sides and extending over said pivot and partly over the latch bolt, .springmeans; acting on; the latch bolt to resist turning movement thereof and positioned so that itsline of force crosses the pivotal axis of said pivot when said latch bolt is turned, means on. the handlev engaging the latch bolt for turning the same in one direction, and interengaging means, including extreme positions of pivotal said ledge, on the latch bolt and its support for limiting the turning movement of the latch bolt in either direction, said handle beingof suflicient size to completely house the said spring means whenever the handle is in either of its extreme positions. I. 4. A latch comprising, a baseplate, a-fixe extension on said base plate, a latch bolt pivoted to said extension, spring actuated means coacting between said fixed extension and .said latch bolt and a hollow handle pivoted to said extension and associated with said latch bolt for manually actuating the same, said -fixed extension and said spring actuated means and a considerable portion of said latch bolt being housed within said handle at all positions of movement of said handle. 5. In combination with a door and a door frame therefor, of a latch including a plate secured to the edge of the door, spaced apart arms projecting from said plate away from the edge of the door, a latch bolt pivotally mounted between said arms, said latch bolt having a keeper receiving recess in an edge thereof, a hollow pivotally mounted handle for turning the latch bolt in one direction about its pivot and spring means acting to hold the latch bolt yieldingly in either of its two extreme positions of movement, saidhollow handle receiving and concealing the spaced apart arms and the said spring means whenever the latch is in either of the extreme handle positions. 

